Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 4 is an advanced book that gives a complete overview of the ASP.NET 4 architecture. If you are an administrator of a business-critical Web application (or plan to be one) using the Microsoft suite of server and Web services tools, this book will provide a good and complete understanding of system internals you will need. If you are new to the ASP.NET architecture and applications, look for something a bit more basic first.

Most of the ASP.NET books I heave read spend most of their pages teaching C#.NET and/or VB.NET is a way to spin beginners up from other languages and platforms in order to arrive at an example application that teaches the basics of how to develop a simple ASP.NET application. This book moves the developer to the next step, which is understanding how the architecture works. The first half of the book discusses how ASP.NET works together with IIS, in-depth ASP.NET event information, and custom server controls. With a firm grasp of the internals, the author moves on to application infrastructure, including a nice chapter on jQuery.

The author includes an impressive chapter on application security that discusses threat vectors and what you need to know at every layer of the architecture.

Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 4 is not a beginner book for ASP.NET application developers and the author’s description of his intended audience fully discloses this… those new to ASP.NET should find a book that teaches ASP.NET basics with C# to build a simple application, then move on to this one due to its advanced topics. The book explains these advanced topics well and I recommended it for developers responsible for ASP.NET applications.